The present invention is related generally to redeemable coupons for use by a consumer at a point-of-sale (“POS”), and more particularly to methods and apparatus for generating a computer-readable coupon on a display of a portable electronic device.
Coupons for use by a consumer are used in a variety of fashions. Coupons might provide a fixed amount off of a sale price, a percentage discount, or free merchandise, for example. Merchandisers use coupons for a variety of purposes. A manufacturer of a product might provide a coupon with a product package for a discount on the next purchase of the same or a different product, or a retailer might provide a coupon in a newspaper or other printed medium to encourage a consumer to shop at his store, for example. A retailer might also print a coupon out at the time of sale for a purchaser, according to what the purchaser bought, to encourage that purchaser to return to the store, buy a related good, and/or to buy more of the same goods.
With the introduction of scanning devices at check-out counters, coupons typically now have a computer-readable field on them so that the coupon information, such as product type, manufacturer identification and discount, can be automatically entered. This field is often a “bar code”, and is read by a laser scanner. The scanner can also read bar codes on the labels of the products being purchased, such as UPC (Universal Product Code), thus the process of applying the coupon discounts to the appropriate merchandise is less cumbersome than when the check-out clerk had to enter each coupon amount into the cash register through a keyboard.
However, paper coupons can be both inconvenient and ineffective. A consumer might not save the coupon, might forget to bring it with him to the store, or not be able to find it. The inability to receive a discount the consumer knows is available with the missing coupon might actually deter a purchase. Many consumers find coupons bothersome in that the coupons can create, clutter. Furthermore, it can be inconvenient while waiting at the check-out counter to sort through a stack of coupons to find the one applicable to the purchase, and other consumers standing in line waiting to be served might become impatient waiting for the purchaser to find his coupons. Finally, while product bar codes and scanning protocol are generally consistent within a geographic region, some coded coupons might not work out of the area in which they were produced for. In addition, retail merchants face additional burdens and challenges related to monitoring and tracking coupons to reduce fraud and ensure proper discounting and redemption policies.
Thus, there is a need for a coupon and redemption techniques that overcome the above difficulties.